First Ask For Courage

If you are not strong, ask for troubles to make you so.
—    Leo Tolstoy
[Which reminds me of:
The Para’s Prayer
Give me, God, what you still have, Give me what no one asks for; I do not ask for wealth Nor for success, nor even health — People ask you so often, God, for all that That you cannot have any left. Give me, God, what you still have; Give me what people refuse to accept from you. I want insecurity and disquietude, I want turmoil and brawl, And if you should give them to me, my God, Once and for all Let me be sure to have them always, For I will not always have the courage To ask you for them.      –    Attributed to André Zirnheld [Aspirant (Second Lieutenant) André Zirnheld was the first Free French SAS officer to fall in Libya in a gun jeep raid on Nazi airfields deep behind enemy lines on July 27, 1942.  Hurriedly buried in a desert sand dune;  his friends found in his officer’s note book a prayer (above) he had written in Tunis in 1938.]
I carried a hand-written copy of this in my wallet for years…    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	My 2 Cents
	You Do It
	Must Be Why I Like Dreamin’
2019	The Opening Step
	Day 17/18: That Didn’t Take Long
2018	I’ll Trade You…
2017	Luv Me Some Meat Loaf
2016	Unless Your Name Is #AmnestyDon
2015	A Tentative First Step
2014	Making People
2013	On Reading Books
2012	On America
2011	Shiver, Me Timbers!
2010	Fiduciary Breakdown

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Even The Tiniest Hole

Just as all the water drains out of a bucket with even the tiniest hole, all the joy of life drains from our soul when we hate even one person.
—   Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2020	I’m Tired Of “Winning”
	If You Could…
	The Economy Or Your Life?
2019	Impeach #45 – (#TraitorInTheWhiteHouse)
	Time For Loving
2018	No Pride There
	London To The Hague
2017	At Least Twenty To Go
2016	A Sweet Smelling Blog Post
	Pre-Reacher
2015	Getting The Story Right
2014	Like Shells On The Shore
2013	More And Why
2012	How To Gain Effective Fire
2011	Patriot Act

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There’s Still No Voter Fraud

The evil we use violence against to protect ourselves from is far less evil than the evil we do to ourselves by using violence.
—    Leo Tolstoy
[Let’s be clear…  There is NO evidence of widespread or organized voter fraud in the United States.  The laws being passed to “protect” voting in Georgia, Texas, Michigan, etc., are intended to reduce voter turnout by American citizens – specifically by the young, the poor and people of color because these groups are increasing in number and are “tending” / trending to vote Democratic.  These laws are being passed because the Republicans understand / believe they no longer have policies which the majority of American voters support.  The Republican party would rather deny their fellow citizens the opportunity to vote than change their policies to promote the general welfare and thereby regain the popular support of the American voter.    —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Another Reason #DonTheCon Continues To Lie About The Pandemic
	A Receptive Push
2019	I’m Still Struggling To Rise
2018	Once Suddenly Free
2017	What Is Childlike
2016	The Latter A Lot Quicker Than The Former
2015	Notes On My Nightstand
2014	Generations
2013	Two For One
2012	Seen And Heard
2011	The Hazards And Vicissitudes Of Life

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Seeking Happiness

Love alone is the only reasonable activity or pursuit of humankind . . .   For love not only annihilates our fear of meaningless but empowers us to seek the happiness of others.   And this indeed is our greatest happiness.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2020	Expectation For The Near Future
2019	Indian Myth
	Did He Even Have The Courage To Ask?
2018	Nothing
2017	Approval First
2016	In Search Of Words
	Day 2 – Blending
2015	At What Price?
2014	Intricate And Subtle Order
2013	Attention To Detail
2012	Aequanimitas!
2011	Consider This

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And Usually The Former

There is a hard and fast rule we must always remember: if a good end can be achieved only through bad means, either it is not a good end, or its time has not yet come.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2020	The Doggie Dab
	A Fork In The Road
2019	#LyingDonald’s Problem With The News And Truth
2018	Oh, Hell
2017	No Welcome Mat Here
2016	Making It Up
	A Missed Beat
2015	We Are All Explorers
2014	Still Trying To Cope
2013	Dear Diary (A good chuckle!)
2012	Conveniently Sequential
2011	King’s Speech Number Four
	Rational Probability

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A Good Reason To Blog

We regret losing a purse or wallet full of money, but a good thought which has come to us, which we have either heard or read, a thought which we should have remembered and applied to our life, which could have improved the world — we lose this thought and promptly forget about it, and we do not regret it, though it is more precious than millions.
—     Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2019	Living Free
2018	Relative Imagination
2017	Thank You, Senator McCain (So Far Anyway)
2016	What About Friends?
2015	It Tastes Good To Me
2014	Others’ Footsteps
	The Not-So-Modern Samurai
2013	Doin’
2012	A Lover
2011	What Have We Found Here
	Words

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Rules Of Morality

The simplest and shortest rule of morality consists in compelling as little service as possible from others, and serving others as much as possible.  It involves demanding as little as possible from others, and in giving others as much as possible.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2019	Good People On Both Sides?
2018	Schedule, Please
2017	No Hope For #DumbDonald
2016	Do Something
2015	What Are You Making Now?
2014	Like Fire Burning In My Heart
2013	Oh Yes He Can!
2012	Enquiries
2011	The Prize: Understanding
2010	Can You Tell My Scanner Works?
	Rebecca – The Early Years
	James – The Early Years
	Brothers By Another Mother

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Diets And Lifestyle Changes

It is far easier to write ten volumes of philosophy than to put a single precept into practice.
—     Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2019	The Right Questions
	Day 3: Still Difficult
2018	A Thought For Those Continuing To Support President Trump
	Day 36: Pushing On
2017	Imagining Humor
2016	So Go On And Deal With It
2015	From A Letter To A Friend
2014	Your Part (Here)
2013	Complements
2012	Sound And Light
2011	Two Politicians Visit A Farm…
2010	Labor Day And Honorable Men

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Policies Not People

We dislike people not because they are evil; we think they are evil because we dislike them.
—    Leo Tolstoy
[We must get back to the point where we can disagree without being disagreeable.  (A paraphrase of Ruth Bader Ginsburg)  —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Should I Start With My Religion?
2018	Fear And Hope
	Day 33: Good News & Prep
2017	Directions
2016	Handle With Care
2015	Nothing But Pride
2014	Go
2013	Well, Does It?
2012	Near Misses Aren’t Successes
2011	Uncomfortable Feelings
2010	San Francisco (favorites)…
	Bullets or Butter?

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#45: Diarrhea Of The Mouth, Constipation Of The Brain

Either be silent or say things that are worth more than silence.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2019	Four Buffett’s
2018	Change Happens
	Day 13: Ginger / Mint Relief
2017	Still Removing Bricks
2016	Namaste
2015	Still Learning
2014	Dark Processes
2013	To The Last Link
2012	Slept In Again
2011	Home Again, Naturally
2009	Thoughts after a long day of OT…

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Only Now

We torture ourselves with the past and in our worry spoil the future simply because we do not pay sufficient attention to the present.  The past is gone.  The future does not exist.  There is only now.
—   Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2019	I Think I’ve Been Blurred
2018	Progress On The Honey Do List
	And It’s Mostly Free, Too!
2017	Both Dismissed
2016	Poetry Isn’t Going To Work
2015	MA Fix
	Getting Better
2014	Actually
2013	Unfortunate Evolutionary Accidents
2012	Tense (Past, Present And Future)
2011	What Is Your Preference?

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Walking The Lonely Path

How does a lapse of faith occur?  Very simply: one begins to live like everybody else.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2018	The Ultimate Trial
2017	Vain Expectations
2016	Or Of One Thought
2015	What’s In Your Future?
2014	Light In Darkness
2013	How ‘Bout Just Obeying The Law?
2012	Or Maybe Not
2011	My Interval Is Too Short!

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From My Sullied Prison

To keep ourselves totally apart so as not to become sullied is the most sullied thing of all.
—    Leo Tolstoy
The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness.
—    Erich Fromm
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On This Day In:
2018	In My Room (2)
2017	Pretending
2016	And Songs Too…
2015	On The Road To Failure
2014	Each Moment
2013	Conversation
2012	4 Down, 11 Done (At Last)
	I’m Not Afraid
2011	Who’s Risk Is It, Anyway?

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Why America Stinks More Than It Did 50 Years Ago

Wealth should be like manure in the field.  When it is in a big pile it makes a bad smell.  But when it is distributed everywhere across the field, it makes the soil fertile.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2017	No Universal Thinking
2016	Supervise The Results
2015	Just Magic!
2014	It Lies Ahead…
2013	At Least One Difference
2012	Are We, Are We?
	On Not Playing The Game
	Scale
2011	Nutcracker And Nooks
	Seeing Differences

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Up For Progress

The only person who doesn’t fall is the one who doesn’t strive toward anything.  Fall a thousand times and get up a thousand times and if you don’t despair, you will make progress.
—    Leo Tolstoy
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On This Day In:
2017	And Second By Second
2016	Bakeries And Coffee Shops
2015	Spirit Not Form
2014	Sometimes Even Kneeling Seems Insufficient
2013	Hobgoblins
2012	Got Sleep?
2011	Not Another Barren Corner

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